UN votes to ask world court to rule on countries’ climate duties

'I can now say to my kids and to the kids of the world that leaders of the world are listening to their concern,' Vanuatu's Prime Minister Ishmael Kalsakau told Al Jazeera [Eduardo Munoz/Reuters]

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted a landmark resolution asking the world’s top court to define the obligations of countries to combat climate change.

Advisory opinions of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) “have tremendous importance and can have a long-standing impact on the international legal order,” UN chief Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday as the resolution passed with a consensus vote.